Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today’s Audience marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s DeclarationNostra Aetateon the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions. I welcome the followers of the different religions who have joined us, especially those who have come from great distances. The Council’s Declaration was an expression of the Church’s esteem for the followers of other religious traditions, and her openness to dialogue in the service of understanding and friendship. The past fifty years have seen much progress in this regard. In a special way, we give thanks to God for the significant advances made in relations between Christians and Jews, and in those between Christians and Muslims. The world rightly expects believers to work together with all people of good will in confronting the many problems affecting our human family. It is my hope that the forthcoming Jubilee of Mercy will be an occasion for ever greater interreligious cooperation in works of charity, reconciliation and care for God’s gift of creation. As we look to the future of interreligious dialogue, let us pray that, in accordance with God’s will, all men and women will see themselves as brothers and sisters in the great human family, peacefully united in and through our diversities.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Wales, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Nigeria, Israel, Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the United States of America. In a particular way I greet the ecumenical delegation from Korea, and I renew my thanks to the representatives of the different religions who have joined us today. God bless you all!

6 comments:

The apostate, going from one venue of abomination (the synod) to another, idolatry, is going to have a difficult time when his day of judgment arrives. I pray daily that he converts to the one, true faith and has enough time left on earth to do penance and reparation for the many sins against God he has committed.

A, Skorka:There is a very important Catholic university in Buenos Aires that is related to the Vatican, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Argentina. In recognition of 50 years since the beginning of the sessions of the second Vatican Council, they prepared a special celebration. And what was the center of the celebration? To bestow upon me a Ph.D. degree, an honorary doctorate. The symbolism of this moment was tremendous. Why? Because [Pope Francis] tried to emphasize very clearly: A rabbi can also be a teacher for us Christians and Catholics. At a certain moment in this ceremony, he stood before me. He told me, “You cannot imagine how long I have dreamt of this moment.” He has a very deep feeling regarding a Jew with whom he bound himself to Judaism.

JJ: Why do you think that was important to him?

AS: Because he very much relates to the image of Jesus. And he knew that Jesus was a Jew, and that Christianity and the rabbinic Judaism developed in the same way.

(1) "Written Torah" (Torah she bich tav), what we call the Old Testament, derided by the rabbis as only for women and children, superseded by the "Oral Torah"(2) "Oral Torah" (Torah She beal peh), even though it was committed to writing in the centuries after Christ, includes the Talmud and even the Kabbalistic books like the Zohar(3) Aggadah and Haggadah(4) responsa, latest rabbinical opinions(5) the rabbis themselves and their opinions(6) the totemic scroll in the synagogue.

Most (uninformed) Catholics think that "Torah" means the Pentateuch, but that is not so. When the rabbis want to refer to the Pentateuch, they call it by the acronym "Tanakh." Almost always when the rabbis refer to "Torah," they are referring to the "Oral Torah" (Talmud and Kabbala).

Because a true reference to the Old Testament would lend legitimacy to rabbinical opinions, but a reference to the man-made traditions damned by Jesus (Mark 7:8-9) would delegitimize the rabbis opinions in the eyes of Catholics, the rabbis are happy to let listeners mistakenly think the rabbis are claiming wise support for their diabolical opinions from the Old Testament, support that just is not there.

So, in the parlance of Judaism, it is 100% correct to refer to the Talmud as "Torah,” but that is not the Old Testament Word of God. To understand Judaism you must understand how the megalomaniacal rabbis have nullified the Word of God—by switching their "Oral" Torah for the "Written" Torah.